by Calculated Risk on 12/04/2020 01:36:00 PM

Note: Both Black Knight and the MBA (Mortgage Bankers Association) are putting out weekly estimates of mortgages in forbearance.

This data is as of December 1st.

From Black Knight: Forbearances Resume Trend of Improvement

After a two week stretch of – not unexpected – slight increases in the number of active forbearance plans, our weekly snapshot of daily tracking data showed a partial reversal through Tuesday, December 1, continuing the “stairstep” nature of the recovery we’ve come to expect over the last several months.

Over the past seven days, the number of active forbearances saw a modest decline of 39,000, countering more than two thirds of the 57,000 increase over the two weeks prior. The decline was likely driven by a portion of the roughly 200,000 expirations that were scheduled for the end of November.
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Click on graph for larger image.

Overall, forbearances are now down by 91,000 (-3.2%) month-over-month. While November saw comparatively limited forbearance expiration activity, more than 1 million forbearance plans are scheduled to expire in December, representing nearly 40% of all active forbearance cases.

In total, as of December 1, 2.76 million homeowners remain in active forbearance plans. Together, representing approximately 5.2% of all active mortgages – down from 5.3% from last week – they account for approximately $561 billion in unpaid principal.
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Of course, COVID-19 cases continue to spike nationwide, and unemployment claims have risen in recent weeks. As such, we will keep a close eye on the possibility of increasing forbearance starts over the coming weeks. Black Knight will continue to monitor the situation and report our findings on this blog.
emphasis added